May 05, 2009

Comic Actor Dom DeLuise Dies

Beloved fixture on such television programs as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, star of Cannonball Run and more hit movies



Bea A.
Dom DeLuise
Watch Dom DeLuise in classic form here on the Dean Martin Show alongside Martin, Nipsey Russell and Gene Kelly
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Dom DeLuise died in Santa Monica on Monday night after battling a lengthy illness, according to his son Michael DeLuise.

The stand-up comedian-turned-screen star was 75.

Brooklyn, New York-born DeLuise rose from the nightclub circuit to become a beloved television fixture on such 1960s and 70s variety, game and talk shows as the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Flip Wilson Show and The Dean Martin Show, among other programs.

His ascent continued well into later years with an onslaught of memorable film roles and television appearances.

DeLuise lit up such classic Mel Brooks films as Silent Movie and Blazing Saddles, as well as Burt Reynolds blockbuster Cannonball Run and more.

A prolific voice actor as well, he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
in 1999 for his work on All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series.

Dom DeLuise is survived by his wife of 40 years, actress Carol Arthur, and three sons, actors Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.

Screen partner Burt Reynolds, who shared in a statement to Entertainment Tonight that he had been "dreading this moment," said that
Dom "always made everyone feel better when he was around."

"I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone," Reynolds said. "I will miss him very much."

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